In 1983, a British tabloid claimed that a U.F.O. had landed in Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk, England, and that the U.S. Military had covered it up. What really did happen over those three nights in 1980? What did dozens of US Air Force personnel see? Is "Britain's Roswell" a hoax?

A Close Encounter...

The original news story.

On 2nd October, 1983, the British tabloid newspaper ‘News of the World’ published a sensational article titled "UFO lands in Suffolk - and that’s official!" The source of the story was a former US soldier who used a pseudonym to tell a story about a cover-up the USAF perpetuated in regards to incidents in a forest in December 1980. The story was to bring to light encounters had by a number of personnel over, supposedly, a 3 day period in Rendlesham Forest. The encounters happened near two former military bases in the county of Suffolk, England, which were at the time being used by the United States Air Force. It has since become known as the “Rendlesham Forest Incident”, and has been also dubbed "Britain’s Roswell". It is said that at 3am on December 26th, 1980 (in some accounts Christmas Night, making it the 25th), two airman on security patrol at RAF Woodbridge, the base that extends into Rendlesham Forest, reported strange "multi-coloured" lights near the East Gate. They entered the dense forest after getting clearance, to investigate what they thought was a downed aircraft.

The east gate of the base.

The men, 20 year old Jim Burroughs and the more experienced Jim Penniston, noted having radio disturbances while approaching the lights. They also noted the lights came from a triangular shaped craft in a clearing. Penniston took some photographs, and made notes of strange symbols which were marked on the craft, observing that the craft was warm to the touch, felt like glass and made no sound. Suddenly the "craft" emitted a blinding light and the two men who had taken cover then observed it taking off at a high speed over the trees. Both men then left the forest and saw another light, which they identified as a coastal lighthouse 5 miles away. They also noted the time was nearly 5am.

A Repeat Encounter...

Returning to the scene.

Penniston and Burroughs were questioned by officials, give a briefing of what occurred. Both men were supposedly threatened by a commanding officer to keep their mouths shut regarding the incident. Penniston, sometime after his briefing, returned to the site and made 3 casts of indentations or pod marks left in the ground, measuring 2-3 inches thick. He decided not to show them to his superiors. Two nights later Deputy Base Commander, Lt Colonel Charles Halt, was alerted by an officer that the craft had returned. Deciding to investigate for himself, Halt assembled a squad to accompany him into the woods, taking with him a tape recorder to record events as they happened. A security perimeter was set up around the woods quickly, and Halt and his team entered to begin their investigation.

The indentations / pod marks.

At exactly the same spot where Burroughs and Penniston had their encounter, Halt recorded that he and his men saw a red light, "that looked like and winked like an eye", as well as zig-zags around trees. It moved away from the squad towards a nearby farmyard, and was observed "dripping molten metal". The team were then stalked by the craft, and a "laser beam" was seen before the craft disappeared. All of this was recorded on cassette tape, in what has become known as “The Halt Tape”. Sceptics are quick to point out that due to static electricity, and what sounds like "animals in a frenzy", not much can be heard on the cassette tape. It was rumoured that day’s later Military officials from the U.S. arrived, and that Colonel Halt was asked to de-brief and interview Penniston and Burroughs, men from his squad and any other witnesses. Halt detailed what was seen and observed, and added his version of events, which correlated with many of the stories. The interviews, together with a memo briefly describing both events, was given to the Ministry of Defence, and was expected to never be made public.

Hushed Up and Conspiracies...

Rendlesham Forest is quite a creepy place.

A military investigation was launched, and many of the men later claimed numerous agencies interviewed them, that they were threatened and perhaps brainwashed into thinking that the light was nothing more than the nearby coastal lighthouse, and Penniston's photos as well as pictures taken by Halt’s men, were confiscated. The event was hushed up until the “News of the World” article 3 years later, in which US airman Larry Warren, posing as "Art Wallace", made sensational claims of an encounter involving aliens and government officials that took place in the forest the same night of Halt's investigation. However, some of the major witnesses over the years have appeared alone, and sometimes together, in various media outlets, and have given sometimes contradictory re-hashings of what happened over those nights nearly 33 years ago, resulting in many regarding the story as perhaps a hoax or a major embellishment of an actual event. It is known that Larry Warren was posted at Woodbridge at that time, however many claim he was not a witness to events and made his story up using gossip floating between officers after the investigation.

Others have seen and photographed strange lights in the forest.

During regression hypnosis some years later, Penniston claimed at one point that he telepathically spoke to the craft upon finding it the first night, and claimed the occupants were time travellers, not extra-terrestrials. He has been interviewed many times, sometimes with his evidence of the casts and notes he took, and with Burroughs, and their stories over the years have changed slightly in regards to details of their encounter, such as how long their investigation of the craft took. Sceptics are also quick to point out that both have on occasion asked for tremendous amounts of money for interviews. Corresponding with the tabloid article that started public interest was the release of the memo Colonel Halt made to his superiors regarding the events. It is vague, confusing and erroneous regarding dates and times. Many sceptics see this as more proof of a hoax. However, many UFO researchers believe something happened at Rendlesham. They are however are confused as to when it occurred. Did the British Government cover-up an extra-terrestrial encounter in Rendlesham Forest that occurred late in 1980? Or was it perhaps all a hoax?

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